The invention relates generally to a water or food bowl or dish for household pets and in particular to an improved non-skid pet food or water bowl including a non-skid material overmolded to a portion of the bottom of the bowl, said material further extending outwardly from an outer wall of said bowl.
One type of bowl commonly utilized for household pets is a molded plastic bowl. The advantages of the molded plastic bowl are quite obvious: a plastic bowl is inexpensive to manufacture; it can be molded in a variety of colors; it can be easily cleaned; and it can be dropped or otherwise misused without significant damage to its structure. For these cited reasons, plastic bowls have been preferred by the typical pet owner over bowls manufactured of non-plastic materials.
While certainly preferred, plastic bowls do have some disadvantages as compared to bowls manufactured of other materials such as metallic bowls. A significant disadvantage and one that is a function of the plastic material is that plastic bowls are generally much lighter in weight than the metallic bowls. The drawback of a light bowl is that it can be easily displaced or moved by a pet while the pet attempts to eat or drink making it difficult if not impossible for the pet to successfully nourish itself. Moreover the light weight of a plastic bowl make it quite easy for a household pet to topple or turnover the bowl resulting in an unwanted mess or hazardous condition.
In order to address the insufficiency in the weight of plastic bowls, various means have been employed to manufacture a heavier and more substantial bowl. One method employed has been to mold a plastic bowl with thicker and denser plastic walls; the benefit, of course, being that the added plastic results in a heavier bowl making it less susceptible to being displaced or moved by a pet during use. Another method employed has been to mold a plastic bowl with an inner and outer wall so as to define a chamber between the walls. Within the chamber is provided some type of ballast material such as sand or cement making the bowl substantially heavier and thus difficult to displace during use. While these methods have been generally satisfactory, these bowls are generally more complicated to manufacture and/or may require more raw material and are consequently more costly to manufacture.
In lieu of weighting the bowls, some bowls have been fitted at their lower ends with a resilient non-skid plastic or rubber piece or strip which is put in place after molding is completed in a secondary operation or which is co-molded over said underside in the same manufacturing process as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,361. The resilient strip which is in contact with the ground prevents the bowl from being slid by providing a friction force between the strip and the contact surface (ground). Non-skid strips of this nature have been found to be satisfactory for purposes of increasing the frictional contact between the bowl and the ground. However, such strips are generally limited by the amount of material contacting the ground surface as well as the gripping properties of the non-skid material.
There is a need, therefore, for a pet bowl having improved non-skid properties that is not necessarily dependent on the extent of the non-skid material contacting the ground surface. Such need is met by the pet bowl of the present invention, which incorporates a non-skid material with improved frictional and drag properties.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a non-skid pet bowl having improved frictional and drag properties.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a non-skid pet bowl having a non-skid material overmolded to a bottom portion of the bowl.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-skid pet bowl having a non-skid material molded to the bottom of the bowl, a portion of which extends outwardly from an outer wall of said pet bowl.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-skid pet bowl having a non-skid material attached to an outer wall, said non-skid material having a first portion extending downwardly from said outer wall and a second portion extending outwardly from said outer wall.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-skid pet bowl having a non-skid material attached to an outer wall, said non-skid material having a first portion extending downwardly from said outer wall and a second portion extending outwardly from said outer wall and an air gap formed between said first and second portions.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a non-skid pet bowl having a non-skid material attached to an outer wall, said non-skid material having a first portion extending downwardly from said outer wall and a second portion extending outwardly from said outer wall, said second portion being longer than said first portion to create more drag and to inhibit movement of said pet bowl along a contact surface.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will become clear upon review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the appended drawings.
A food or water bowl for household pets, which may not be easily displaced or moved by the normal activity of the pet, is provided with a non-skid material attached to an outer wall and having improved frictional and drag properties. A layer of non-skid is molded onto a bottom portion of the bowl and preferably extends both downwardly and outwardly from said outer wall to contact a ground surface. An air gap is defined along said contact surface between said downwardly extending and outwardly extending components of said non-skid material to increase the resistance to movement of said pet bowl along a ground surface. At least one outwardly extending component of the non-skid material is preferably longer than the downwardly extending component for increased drag capabilities and to further inhibit movement of said pet bowl along a ground surface.